


One Person Can Change A Community

by KalteHerz



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Butterfly Effect, Character Death, F/M, Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-19
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2020-07-08 06:41:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19865188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KalteHerz/pseuds/KalteHerz
Summary: You stare at the envelope in your desk drawer. Should you open it or not?How many things change when one person doesn't turn up?------A comparison of the farmer coming to the Valley and if they don't





	1. You're Not There

You close the drawer. You can’t let the overseers see you not working. Anyway, Grandpa never did anything for you while he was alive, why would that change after he died.

Life in the Valley goes on. But nothing is the same. Without the impact of one person, a whole community has changed.

You can see it first in Haley. She’s tired of this life; there’s nowhere to grow her personality. Everyone’s too lame for her anyway. Within the year, she leaves the town, moved to Zuzu for bigger and greater things.

Emily’s next. You see her every night, waiting at the phone for a message that Haley’s coming back, or that her parents' trip has finished. She goes on, but little by little, her spirit breaks with every silent night.

Shane goes in the night. Marnie can’t find him the next morning, and Morris is banging on her door, demanding that he come in to work. He’s discovered down by the cliff, bottles scattered above, blood around him. Everyone expected it, no one thought it would actually happen.

Jas is never really the same after that day. Marnie couldn’t stop her seeing the body; she wanted to see what happened to the only father figure she ever had. The games she used to play now don’t hold the same feeling. She refuses to go near cliffs, whether in fear of finding something or hearing the call herself. 

Marnie can’t keep herself together and a relationship secret. She gives Lewis the ultimatum. Choosing his status over her well-being, she breaks it off, devoting herself to the animals and Jas. If only Lewis had put more money into mental health services, rather than trying to woo her, maybe he would still be with her. 

Lewis struggles without Marnie. Everyone in town knows him, but not many are friends with him. He stops putting in the effort. Opinion falls but no one wants to take the job. He doesn’t know whether to feel happy or sad. The manor feels empty.

Kent never comes home.

Without his father at home, trying to look after his brother while also making a name for himself, Sam breaks. What started out as skating on private property becomes breaking in Joja, vandalism and trying to burn down the forest. The nearest police force is the next town over. Eventually, he gets taken away. They say he’ll be back in five years.

It takes a while before Vincent realises why Kent isn’t coming home. The only one who ever bothered to tell him why was Jas. They bond over it. Together, they make plans to get away. He doesn’t want to do it to his mother, but what other options does he have? They’ll never see him as anything other than the poor child who lost his dad to the war and brother to the justice system. 

Jodi tries. She tries so hard but there’s only so far you can stretch a military pension. Joja becomes her only saving grace. Every now and then, Gus takes pity on her, but he can’t afford to look after her. She watches Sam be taken away, and Vincent’s eyes flicking to the bus. She tried her hardest.

They find Pam in the morning, halfway between her trailer and the saloon. Penny doesn’t seem nearly as sad as she should have. Another death that everyone expected, but didn’t think would ever happen.

With her mother gone, Penny throws herself into looking after the children. They’ve been through so much and need someone to be there for them. Maybe if she had tried a little harder, taken the bottle away a little sooner. She doesn't see the children’s longing glances at the bus stop. If only…

Alex gets accepted into the minor leagues. He never looks back. Why would he? There wasn’t anyone there that he wanted to acknowledge, and anyway, the city held so much more promise for him. His past becomes what he wants it to be.

Clint barely leaves the forge. When he does, it’s to drink his sorrows away at the saloon. If only he could work up the courage to go over and ask Emily… anything. She doesn’t notice his longing gazes, he doesn’t notice her broken soul.

Joja eventually takes over and Pierre can’t keep up. No one can afford his prices any more. He closes up shop. With no work to occupy him, his habit grows and relationships fail. There’s no point any more anyway? We’re all Joja, eventually. 

Abigail’s arguments with her parents escalate. Why couldn’t they just understand her? Pierre probably wasn’t even her real father anyway. One day, she’s gone. No note, no message, nothing. No one knows what happens to her. They still check the news anyway.

Caroline watches her family fall apart. First Pierre, unable to keep away from his habit, slowly becoming less and less like the man she fell in love with. Abigail, insisting on doing everything she doesn't want her to do. She loses them both. She loves them both. Maybe, she should have asked the Wizard to marry her.

No one knows who Linus is. There’s rumours of a man, living in the forests behind the town. No one notices when the sightings slow down and then stop.

Harvey keeps working. Trying to deal with a town that has so many issues but so little funding stretches him to his limits. He doesn't even have time for himself any more. Maybe he should have let someone else take the job.

Leah can’t bring herself to show anyone else her art. So much pressure on herself, with no other perspectives, she burns out within a year. No amount of foraging could save her now. She moves back into the city, taking a job with Joja.

Sebastian eventually loses it. His job being ridiculed, all the attention being on Maru, he uproots himself and leaves. Getting a job with a well known firm, making their websites, he can’t help but feel there was more for him. His family is but a distant memory, this project is due by next week.

Maru feels the pressure. Without Sebastian there to share the load, both Robin and Demetrius’ eyes are on her. She continues with her nursing studies, feeling as though her interest in space and engineering has to be hidden. Why did Sebastian leave anyway? Couldn’t he take it any more, the weakling?

Demetrius continues with his investigations of the Valley. Maru needs to keep going with her nursing studies. There’s no time for space or robots. Does she want to end up like her brother? A failure, doomed to walk the city. Why doesn’t Robin talk to him as much any more?

Robin lets Sebastian go. It’s her own fault anyway. She should’ve said something, stood up to Demetrius, asked Maru to talk to him. She can see it happening to Maru as well. But it’s too much effort, what if it backfires? And anyway, Joja needs the new warehouse built by next week.

Elliott is eternally the new person. No one wants to include him, they don't know enough about him anyway. His cabin is constantly filled with sand, crabs and rejected story ideas. No one would want to read something like that anyway. An upbeat personality only gets you so far.

Evelyn sees it fall apart. Her beloved town, gone. No one knows the meaning of community any more. George spends his days in front of the television. Maybe, if she had the strength, she’d throw it out the window. Maybe, she should just give it up and go join Clara.

As soon as there were young people, George knew the town would go to waste. They didn’t know anything of traditions, they didn’t know anything about manual labour, how could they be expected to run a community. The only good thing left in this world was his program, and even that was not like it used to be.

Gus saw it all happen, and heard it as well. He notes the loss of Pam and Shane. Although they were good sources of income, it hurts him to see his friends go in that way. He watches Clint stare at Emily from across the bar. Maybe the man didn’t realise it, but that wasn’t the way to tell a girl you like her. He comforts Emily when Haley leaves and her parents don’t return. It seemed that they were the only things either had left in the world. No one ever told you that barkeeping was another name for a therapist. 

Willy can feel it in the water, The fish don't jump like they used to. The jellies don’t return in the same numbers. He doesn’t know how but he can feel that an important decision was made. He hopes this wasn't the better option.


	2. You Were There

You pull out the envelope, and stand up. To hell with Joja, Stardew Valley, here you come.

Once again, the changes start small, but no less significant.

Leah holds an art exhibition. The town turns out to support her and it shows in the way her face lights up. She holds herself more confidently, feels like she’s not wasting her time. People come to the town to see what she’s made and the economy gets a little boost. Everyone else feels that… maybe they can do the same.

Haley goes next. Seeing Leah come out of her shell makes her feel that she’ll be accepted for herself. She starts to show off her photography. Soon, people in the town are asking her to take pictures of them, or asking for certain sets of the town. Eventually, she expands outside the town, being called out for weddings and even official events.

Emily feels freer. With Haley growing into herself, Emily doesn’t need to look after or define herself by her. She opens a clothing shop in town, just from her house, but soon, everyone in town has some piece of clothing by her. She doesn’t forget about her parents, but she’s no longer waiting at the phone for the call saying they’re on their way home.

Clint is the one that surprises everyone. Within the year, he’s out of his shop, making friends, even discussing teaming up with Robin and Leah to make a massive art piece to attract tourists. With his newfound confidence, he talks to Emily and just gets to know her. In the end, she’s the one who asks him out.

Maru and Sebastian grow together. They start to make an effort to talk to one another and when one seems down, the other will take the time to make sure they’re all right. And they stand up for one another. Sebastian makes sure that Demetrius knows when he’s being over-protective of Maru and Maru tells Robin when she’s babying Sebastian. Maru becomes confident in her own skin and works on making the town as technologically advanced as possible. Sebastian, now feeling like he isn’t alone, helps Maru in his free time but ultimately, creates his own game, based on the Valley and its way of life.

Demetrius, seeing Maru grow on her own, sets about getting to know his step-son. Turns out, programming makes modelling data sets and different environments a lot easier. Together, they release a revolutionary computer model for animal populations to the scientific community. The tensions now gone, Demetrius and Robin’s relationship blooms.

Robin, now not having to worry about her partner and step-son coming to blows, focuses more on her craft. She teams up with Leah and Clint, helps Maru and Sebastian with the new designs for the town. Her and Demetrius grow and they even talk of adopting another child. Neither of the current ones took up carpentry, third time’s the charm right?

Kent comes home. He’s not the same, no one is after what he’s been through but he works to improve himself. There’s always going to be slip-ups and mistakes but they take them as they come and build on their progress. Vincent is overjoyed and even if he doesn’t quite understand what happened, any child knows when someone needs love. Jodi is just happy Kent is home. She spends time with him, learning his triggers, making him feel safe. Despite their low budget, she makes an effort to shop at Pierre’s and, with a local supplier, prices are now cheaper.

Sam, no longer feeling the pressures of being a parent to his brother, starts his band. They grow and become rather big, even after Sebastian leaves to pursue his own dreams. Sam pours the money he makes back into the town, making a skate park and even funding a restoration project for the spa house. There are benefits to being an international rock star.

Abigail doesn’t live up to her parents’ standards, that was never going to happen. Instead, she grows beyond them. She stays in the band with Sam, never being as big as him (the guitarist is always the most popular) but she gets her fair share. She takes her fame and turns it into publicity for her own folk band. The rock scene wasn’t always for her and she eventually moves back to the Valley. The arguments between her and her parents have dwindled with them seeing how happy she is living her own life.

With a new local source, Pierre’s booms. Soon, the whole town is shopping there and Joja is driven out of town. Slowly but surely, Pierre relies less and less on his habit to get through the day. Caroline embraces Abigail as her own person. Together, they bring about a change for the town’s eating habits.

The bus starts running again; Pam has a job again. Many thought that with more money she would fall deeper into her alcoholism. Instead, the opposite happens. Needing to drive everyday for work pushes her to stop drinking earlier and earlier until she eventually stops. She worries that Gus would be sad to see the business go, but he seems happier that she is herself again.

No longer having to worry about her mum, Penny turns her focus towards kids. The town’s playground is old, and there’s so many things that could cause issues. She throws herself into improving the town, making it a viable place for kids to be raised. She even enrols herself in an online course for teaching. She never told anyone, but she always wanted to open a school of her very own.

Elliot, seeing how well Haley, Emily and Leah’s projects turn out, feels inspired to write his book. Going out on a limb, he invites the town to the first reading of the story. So many people like it and they encourage him to go to the city to promote it. It’s an instant classic and launches him into literary fame. Ultimately, he comes back to the town, and settles in to write his second story. Maybe, something a little different. Plus, Evelyn needs help with all those gardens.

Realising how much his alcoholism is affecting Jas, Shane tries to stop. He can’t at first, not alone, but slowly, he starts to raise chickens. He’s always loved the birds and they help him more than he could ever imagine. He even uses the money he saved from not buying alcohol to hire Robin to build a nice coop for them. The new farmer hires him to help look after their animals.

Marnie no longer has a shadow over her. She doesn’t wake up each day, worried that Shane won’t be home any more. Jas connects with Shane and he teaches her all he knows about animals, mainly chickens. She absorbs it all, just wanting to spend time with her cousin.

Lewis feels that the town won’t kick him out for having a relationship. He goes public with Marnie and is surprised to learn that most of the town already knows about it. Surely they weren’t than obvious. He becomes known in the wider community as a model mayor and is asked to give talks in other towns, teaching them the best way to improve your region. The economy is boosted, morale is high, his time will be known as some of the best.

Linus becomes a bit more of a character in town. No one seems to judge him for his way of life, and some even go out of their way to make it easier for him. He teaches the children the best ways to find food and even lets Leah in on a few of his secrets. Many travel to the town just to learn his ways.

With a town that is healthier and happier, Harvey can spend more time working on his own interests. He expands his radio passion. With the help of many people in town, he creates a station for pilots and explorers to check in with. As a doctor it is his duty to look after people. That doesn’t always mean just in the traditional ways.

Alex gets accepted into the minor leagues. He makes a career for himself, making his way up the ranks, eventually earning a place amongst the greatest. But he constantly feels a pull back to the Valley. After his peak, he moves back, opening a sports program for both young and old, even roping in Caroline to create a welcoming place for people to get fit.

Evelyn and George’s times come to an end. They’d been around for so long, it was inevitable. That didn’t mean that anyone wasn’t sad. It’s said that they couldn’t be in a world without the other. George went first, outside, next to the river near the mine, reminiscing on his former years. The last thing anyone heard him say was that the town was in good hands. They brought the news to Evelyn. She just nodded and excused herself. They checked in with her a few minutes later and she was laying next to him in the hospital, a smile on her face.

Gus was content. He’d lost business in the form of regular customers, but people still came for nice food, the occasional drink and a nice chat. There were still woes in the town, people were missing George and Evelyn, the tourists were sometimes too loud and the skate park could be a bit dangerous but overall, people were happy and nothing made Gus happier than a happy town. Maybe being a barkeep wasn’t all bad, you helped people that’s for sure.

Willy heard it in the trees, the rustle. He heard it in the waves, the gentle crashing. The shuffling sand, the creaking pier, it all spoke of a happy town. He knew, deep in his bones, that someone made the right choice. One day, he’d get the chance to thank them as well.


End file.
